FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT JUROR - PAGE 5

* U.S. regulators accuse Bent and son of lying to investors * Bents deny civil fraud charges, say victim of 2008 crisis * One of nine jurors excused by the judge By Grant McCool NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Money market pioneer Bruce Bent will testify on Thursday at a trial in which U.S. market regulators accuse him and his son of fraud as they tried to stop a run on their Reserve Fund in the September 2008 financial crisis. On the second day of the civil trial in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, a lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told the judge she would call Bent to the witness stand on Thursday.

Michael Jackson (right) did not attend Friday's 400-person, invitation-only celebration of his acquittal, but one of the jurors did come to the party at the Chumash Indian Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif. Pauline Coccoz said she was overwhelmed with emotion when she arrived. "They were playing 'Beat It,' and I almost started to cry," she said. ---------- Compiled from news services and edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Scott Kleinberg (skleinberg@tribune.

The Scott Peterson murder trial took yet another strange twist Wednesday when the judge removed the jury's foreman after a week of pressure-packed deliberations that have only added to the courtroom drama in the case. The judge did not disclose why he removed the juror--the second such dismissal in as many days. The latest ousted juror was replaced by an alternate whose future son-in-law owns a restaurant that Scott and Laci Peterson themselves once owned. For the second day in a row, Judge Alfred Delucchi told the new panel to start over with its deliberations.

Citizens who blow off jury duty should be ashamed of themselves, Lake County, Ind., Criminal Court Judge Thomas P. Stefaniak Jr. says. So when a 20-year-old Cedar Lake man skipped the second day of a murder trial, Stefaniak figured out a way to publicly shame him for his absence. The judge ordered Michael Leibengood to stand outside the courthouse in Crown Point on Monday for more than an hour holding a sign that read, "I failed to appear for jury duty." The punishment was meant to teach Leibengood a lesson and to warn other potential jurors, Stefaniak said.

A federal judge on Thursday asked attorneys to submit questions for potential witnesses for a hearing about whether Springfield power broker William Cellini deserves a new trial because a juror apparently withheld her felony background during jury selection. After Cellini was convicted last month, the Tribune discovered the juror had omitted mention of her convictions for crack-cocaine possession in 2000 and aggravated driving under the influence in 2008 on a written questionnaire as well as during questioning by the judge during jury selection.

Lawyers for Springfield power broker William Cellini say they will file for a mistrial as soon as Monday based on a report in the Tribune that a juror apparently concealed two felony convictions from court officials during jury selection. One issue could turn on whether the juror was eligible to serve on the panel that convicted Cellini last week in light of her own criminal history. The Tribune reported Friday that Cook County court records show that a woman with the same name, age and address as the juror pleaded guilty to a felony charge of crack-cocaine possession in 2000 and was sentenced to 1 1/2 years probation.

By Jason Meisner and Stacy St. Clair and Tribune reporters | April 9, 2012

Fourteen jurors were picked Monday for the William Balfour trial. The judge has kept their identities secret until after their verdict. In all, 18 jurors - including six alternates -- will be selected. Here is what was learned about the seven men and seven women picked so far: Juror 2: White man in 20s from southwest suburbs. Graduated with a criminal justice degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007. Decided law enforcement was not for him and now works at a suburban country club.

A federal judge on Wednesday called for an evidentiary hearing into whether Springfield power broker William Cellini deserves a new trial because a juror apparently lied about her criminal background during jury selection. In a written decision, U.S. District Judge James Zagel said a hearing is needed to determine if the juror was showing any bias when she failed to disclose two felony convictions to the court. It was unclear if the judge intends to require the woman to testify at the hearing so she can be questioned under oath about why she withheld her convictions for crack-cocaine possession in 2000 and aggravated driving under the influence in 2008.

Bits of a conversation overheard in the cafeteria in the Dirksen Federal Building have led to the dismissal of a juror in the racketeering trial of reputed mob boss Sam Carlisi. U.S. District Judge Paul Plunkett excused the juror Monday but rejected defense lawyers' request for a mistrial in the 4-week-old trial. The juror overheard several of Carlisi's co-defendants, all free on bond, discussing a large sum of money as the juror sat alone eating lunch last Thursday. The juror jumped to the conclusion the defendants may have lost the money on gambling.